Summer may have been too short for some but for the Powell River Kings it can’t end soon enough.
Several veteran players were in town for the Blackberry Festival where they flipped burgers for their hungry fans and in the week that followed, a full compliment of about 40 hopefuls were on the ice at Hap Parker Arena.
Interest among the fans was very keen as well due to several off-season deals made by Kent Lewis and his staff.
At the top of the surprise list had to be the acquisition of 17-year-old Evan Richardson who comes to the Kings with a commitment to Boston College.
When asked if he too was caught off guard by the trade he said, “I had no idea and I was just going to take it one year at a time.”
He likes what he’s seen so far saying, “We all want to win here.
“The Kings had a disappointing end to their final series last year and I just want to come in and help them get past that,” he added.
There were plenty of new faces on the ice along with Richardson, as well as a solid core of veterans including Chris Williams who was named the team’s captain.
“I found out last night [Thursday, August 25],” smiled Williams, “and I had no idea he [Lewis] was going to do it during the orientation.
“Coaches have been talking to me and other guys about being leaders and stepping into that role and they picked me so I’m excited about it and I’m going to do the best I can.”
He shared some thoughts about the roster moves made during the summer saying, “some weren’t surprising with too many 91s coming back.
“Pretty exciting picking up a guy like Richardson,” he beamed, “and it’s nice to see that the organization is still hungry and wants it.”
Of the players at camp he said, “what everyone will see this year, instead of two or three guys doing all the scoring, you’ll see six to eight guys who are capable of scoring 20 plus goals.
“You’ll see more balance and depth,” he explained, “so teams won’t be able to key in on just one or two guys.”
Williams is part of a defensive corps, with Craig Dalrymple and Jon Jutzi, that looks as strong or stronger than last year and the net, he reported, is solid with goalies Sean McGwire and last year’s Royal Bank Cup-winning netminder Jamie Phillips.
“McGwire has been talking to schools and NHL scouts and he only played 15 games last year,” he said, “and then we go out and acquire a kid that was on the RBC winner, said Williams.
“I think depth is our biggest strength.”
Coaches agree that this camp was one of the best for the Kings in recent history and assistant coach Chad van Diemen said, “we’re happy and we feel that we have a deeper camp than in the past.
“There are some really good forwards and we have some tough decisions to make before it’s over.
“You can tell who’s been on the ice a lot and the guys who haven’t been,” he said, “and that might be due to living in a town that may take their ice out but they’ll catch up pretty quick.”
It’s an exciting time for coaches, players and fans and van Diemen spoke for most when he said, “it’s a fun time of the season.”
Players took part in drills for the first couple of days and then got down to business for a couple of intra-squad games on Saturday and Sunday.
For the record, the Green team won both games—4-1 on Saturday and 7-1 on Sunday.
After the first round of cuts, the Kings will load the bus with 27 or so players for a trip to Trail where they’ll take part in the Smoke Eaters Exhibition Tournament with the Wenatchee Wild of the NAHL and Brooks Bandits of the AJHL on September
